Deliberate Intervention: Using Policy and Design to Blunt the Harms of New Technology

"Do no harm" is Alex Schmidt's mantra throughout Deliberate Intervention—a book that delves into how policy and design can work together to prevent harms in technology. Using the journalistic approach she employed as an NPR reporter, Schmidt studies the history of policy making, its biases, and its evolution in the changing technology field. The beginning of each chapter highlights a graphic showing the transformation of policy and design, drawn by well–known illustrator, MJ Broadbent.

"For anyone who shapes or regulates new products, reading Deliberate Intervention is a step toward doing good by designing well."
—Conor Friedersdorf, Staff Writer, The Atlantic

Who Should Read This Book?

This book is for anyone who is concerned about the harms of technology and interested in ways to circumvent them, i.e., policy makers, CEOs of tech companies, IT people, designers, lawyers, security analysts, product managers, healthcare workers, historians, writers—in other words, just about everyone. It’s particularly helpful for anyone who is designing anything that involves technology and is worried about the potential harm in their decision-making.

Takeaways

Readers will learn:

• How policy and design can partner.
• The history of policy and how evident harms have led to policy interventions and improvements.
• As harms emerge from technology, individuals and companies really do have the tools to intervene.
• Government can control harms with new policies.
• How to create better policy with solid design measures.
• What the future looks like for people with the advent of new technology.

Testimonials

"Deliberate Intervention is an in–depth, thoroughly cited guide on the intersection of policy and design, employing a narrative style that makes the complex subject matter fun to read and easy to grok without losing any of its gravitas. An absolute must-read for any citizen designer.”
—Lisa Baskett, Healthcare Design Strategist

"What will it take to design technology that does less harm? This subtle book offers thoughtful, nuanced, sometimes unexpected answers. It's a good read for any curious user of technology. And for anyone who shapes or regulates new products, reading it is a step toward doing good by designing well."
—Conor Friedersdorf, staff writer, The Atlantic

"This book is what America needs right now. With our democracy in dire straits and tech companies threatening our rights and privacy, the need for us to be proactive about policy is at an all-time high"
—Ginger Reinauer, Senior Product Designer

ALEX SCHMIDT has pursued interests in public service and design through different avenues over her career. As an award-winning reporter and producer for NPR and others, she covered arts, business, technology, and urban development. Alex has published work in The New Yorker and The Los Angeles Times, among other outlets. Her writing about UX, privacy, and other design topics has appeared in A List Apart and The Columbia Journalism Review.
As a researcher, strategist, and UX designer, Alex has worked both for agencies and in the public sector. Her greatest interest lies in the wicked problems inherent in enterprise design and the mysterious ways of large systems. These are all areas she has delved into as a product strategist for The Federal Reserve Bank of New York.